Official Lost Podcast transcript/February 26th, 2009
Kris White: Who is LaFleur? Would you trust Widmore? And... Red Sox or Yankees? We'll have discussions on all that and more in today's Official Lost Audio Podcast. LOST start theme. Kris White: Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the audio podcast. We're here today with executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to rehash last night's episode "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham". They'll also take your fan questions and drop a few hints about our upcoming episode entitled "LaFleur". That airs Wednesday, March 4th, at 9 PM till 10:02 on ABC and is available the next day at ABC.com. Also, just a quick reminder, as always, you can submit your questions, theories or whatever else you want to say to Damon and Carlton at blogs.abc.com/asklost and maybe, just maybe, they'll read them here on the podcast. Here now are Damon and Carlton. theme Carlton Cuse: Bonjour Damon! Damon Lindelof: Bonjour, Carlton. We should do an entire podcast in French, one of these days. Carlton Cuse: That would be like four words long. Damon Lindelof: Yeah, I think you just heard it. Carlton Cuse: That's exac- You heard them. There it is. Damon Lindelof: Au revoir. Carlton Cuse: Au revoir. See you next week, on the next podcast. Damon Lindelof: As we're building a huge Canadian fan base, I do feel like you know, they speak several languages in Canada... Carlton Cuse: They do, English and French. Damon Lindelof: ...From what I understand. Is that several or a couple. A couple of languages. Carlton Cuse: I'll give you several on that. Damon Lindelof: That's one more language than I speak. Carlton Cuse: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham." Pretty dramatic episode, Damon. Damon Lindelof: Yes, I would uh, this was actually an episode of the show that obviously is a big turning point in Lost. I think one of the big challenges for us, coming out of last season, was how are we gonna tie up all these story threads, because we've been telling all these stories in the future. At the end of the future story telling, we reveal that Locke was in the coffin. So the big question is how did he get there? And it required us to basically drop back and connect the dots between the guy who disappeared in a flash of light next to Richard Alpert and how he got into that coffin. So the first five episodes of the season were basically the island skipping through time, and Locke is basically leading everybody across the island, eventually ending up at the Orchid. And now of course he ends up back in the real world and tries to convince everybody to come back with him. But that's something that Jack has been talking about since the Season 3 finale. Carlton Cuse: I know. I mean, we have basically been teasing the audience for a long time about how Locke ended up in that coffin. And finally you got your answer. Damon Lindelof: Yeah, Ben-- Carlton Cuse: It was kind of surprising. Damon Lindelof: Ben strangled him. Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Damon Lindelof: (???) Carlton Cuse: I was kind of shocked about that myself. Damon Lindelof: You know, big shout-outs to Jack Bender, who directed that episode, and of course Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson. When we first saw that scene, it starts with Locke about to hang himself and ends with Ben choking the life out of him, and I think it's like a six or seven minute long scene-- Carlton Cuse: Yeah, but it was utterly kind of riveting. I mean, in my view, maybe as good a scene as we've done in the entire hundred hours of the show. I mean, personally for me, I think it's maybe, in terms of performance and what those guys did, it was just- it was awesome. Damon Lindelof: For me, it's number two behind the scene where Sun and Hurley are waiting for Vincent to take a dump-- Carlton Cuse: chuckles Damon Lindelof: --because he might have swallowed her wedding ring. Carlton Cuse: That's pretty close. Damon Lindelof: You're not gonna-- Carlton Cuse: Somehow I thought you were gonna say Charlie drowning. Damon Lindelof: Oh. Carlton Cuse: But uh... Damon Lindelof: Well, good point. Carlton Cuse: There you go. Damon Lindelof: So number three then. Carlton Cuse: Number three, okay. Damon Lindelof: But it's up there. Carlton Cuse: It's up there, yeah. Damon Lindelof: It's in the hunt. Carlton Cuse: When Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson do a scene together, they both just elevate each other's game. It's sort of like classic Shaq and Kobe, I think. Damon Lindelof: Awesome. Well, we learned a lot too in "Bentham". We learned a little bit more about Charles Widmore. He's obviously trying to help Locke, it would appear. He reveals that he was the leader of the island at some point, which is, if we take him at his word, fairly fascinating. Where do you stand, Carlton, at this point in the show? Who's the good guy? Who's the bad guy? Is Widmore- sighs Damon Lindelof: Why was Widmore trying to help Locke? Carlton Cuse: You know, it's very confusing. You know, look, I'm pretty sure Ben's a bad guy. We've seen him gas all the DHARMA Initiative and- Damon Lindelof: Well, did we see him gas them? Carlton Cuse: Well, we saw- Damon Lindelof: He's just sitting in the van, and then the gas... you know... chuckles Damon Lindelof: Well, I mean- Carlton Cuse: Maybe you should change and become a defense attorney, Damon. Damon Lindelof: Yeah, I'm just saying, I didn't see his hand near a switch. Carlton Cuse: I saw, you know, a little gas container, and he kind of sat there without too much emotion while his dad kicked the bucket. Damon Lindelof: Will we find out, Carlton, this season if Ben is responsible for the gassing? Carlton Cuse: Well, yes, I guess we would, but you may not feel he's responsible no matter what we see this season. Damon Lindelof: That's true. We'll argue the point then. Carlton Cuse: Exactly. Damon Lindelof: There's more to come, though. Carlton Cuse: But I'm just saying that I think, you know... We've seen some evidence that Ben's a bad guy. Widmore... yeah, we saw kind of a shady video of him beating somebody up, but maybe that guy, you know, tried to steal his car or something. Damon Lindelof: Well, I'm curious about, obviously, the end of the episode is that John Locke, who seems to be very much alive now back on the island, he's had a couple of conversations with these Ajira folk, who I'm not entirely sure I trust, he's looking down at Ben's body. Ben is in a- he was injured in some way. Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Damon Lindelof: Presumably in the crash of Ajira. Will we see more about that? Carlton Cuse: You presume, and when you presume, you... Damon Lindelof: I prese out of you and me? Carlton Cuse: chuckles Exactly. Damon Lindelof: Yeah, okay, don't know what that means. Carlton Cuse: That's right. You make a pre out of you and me. Damon Lindelof: So we'll know more about that but clearly- Carlton Cuse: We will know more about that, definitely. Damon Lindelof: I can't wait to see what happens when Ben wakes up. Carlton Cuse: Yeah, and look, I mean, I think the mystery of exactly what Widmore's role is, and, you know, okay, we know that he was on the island. We know obviously that he's off the island. Who this guy is and how all the pieces fit together, that's something which we're gonna learn a lot more about as the season goes on. Are we not? Damon Lindelof: I would assume so. And first and foremost, and I don't think we should answer this question here because you'll be finding out a lot more in "LaFleur"-- Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Damon Lindelof: The operative question is: When is that Ajira plane? You know, these scenes that we're seeing between where Locke is talking to these people, that's clearly landed on Hydra island. Carlton Cuse: Right. Damon Lindelof: When is that in relation to where we saw Jack and Kate and Hurley at the end of the previous episode, where basically Jin hops out of a DHARMA van. What is going on? Connect the dots for me. Carlton Cuse: Well, I won't connect the dots for you because that would give too much away. But let's just say that next week in "LaFleur," you will get a much clearer sense of how those dots connect. Damon Lindelof: Now is LaFleur also a French word? Carlton Cuse: French-Canadian. Damon Lindelof: I think it means-- Carlton Cuse: This is kind of a shout out to our French-Canadian friends. Damon Lindelof: And it means the flower? So is it about a flower? Carlton Cuse: I think you could just say it's a name. Damon Lindelof: Okay. Carlton Cuse: Maybe it's a name. Maybe it's the name of someone that we're gonna meet. Damon Lindelof: Oh. Interesting. Carlton Cuse: Very interesting. Damon Lindelof: I'm excited. Let's get to the questions! Carlton Cuse: All right. fanfare Carlton Cuse: This is from Davira in Corvallis, Oregon. Damon Lindelof: Okay. Carlton Cuse: "If you answer my question, it will make my day." Damon Lindelof: All righty. Carlton Cuse: "I thought it would be fun for fans to do a Lost-related word association question. I have a list of words, and I thought it would be fun to have a call and response answers to those words as related to Lost. As an example, if Carlton was on the list, then Damon might say 'banjo player' or 'that guy who's always driving me crazy in the writer's room.'" Damon Lindelof: Uh, I understand the parameters-- Carlton Cuse: Are you ready? Damon Lindelof: --I'm looking forward to it. Carlton Cuse: "Apollo bars" Damon Lindelof: Sugary Carlton Cuse: "Sayid" Damon Lindelof: Torturer Carlton Cuse: "Memory" Damon Lindelof: Confusing Carlton Cuse: "Trojan horse" Damon Lindelof: Odysseus Carlton Cuse: "Orange juice" Damon Lindelof: Juliet Carlton Cuse: "Purple" Damon Lindelof: Jin Carlton Cuse: "Hans Christian Anderson" Damon Lindelof: The Little Mermaid Carlton Cuse: "Blood" Damon Lindelof: Uh... I don't like this game anymore. Carlton Cuse: Okay. One more? Damon Lindelof: Okay. Carlton Cuse: "Bunnies" Damon Lindelof: Dr. Pierre Chang Carlton Cuse: Okay, there we go, all right. Damon Lindelof: My question, Carlton, comes from WayneBolt from Norwich, England. Carlton Cuse: Rock on, Wayne. Damon Lindelof: "Hi guys, excellent show. Where is the Vincent flashback episode? On a previous podcast, you mentioned that Vincent is the only confirmed character to make it to the end of the series. This gives me some hope we'll still be able to get one. where did he come from? what did he do before being given to Walt? Will all six seasons end up being the Vincent flashback?" Carlton Cuse: I think it's fair to say that certain things need to be saved for the theatrical motion picture. And combining Lost with the story of Vincent's flashbacks, that'd make a good movie, I think. Damon Lindelof: So you are confirming here that there will be a Lost movie, and it will be about Vincent. Carlton Cuse: chuckles No, I'm not confirming that. Damon Lindelof: Okay, just wanted to make sure that that was clear. Carlton Cuse: "Hello Damon, Carlton, and Kris." snickers Carlton Cuse: Well, well, well... Damon Lindelof: Look who's joined the uh... Carlton Cuse: Would you like to, you know, write some scenes? Because we have a lot of work to be done today, Kris. Damon Lindelof: Kris, maybe you can answer this question if we don't know the answer. Carlton Cuse: "A big Lost mystery has been keeping me up at night." This is from Shane in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Damon Lindelof: Oh my god. If I were in Kuala Lumpur, what would keep me up at night is a fear of a tiger attack, you know, I'm just saying... Go on. Carlton Cuse: All right. "So I have read so many theories online about who Annie is. I've heard that Kate is Annie, that Charlotte is Annie, that Charlotte's mom is Annie, that Mrs. Hawking is Annie, that Juliet is Annie, and now Jill the butcher is Annie. So my question is how the in the world did DHARMA make so many clones of Annie? And why does each clone look so different? Or is this another magic of the island? I'm sure you can sense the sarcasm in my question. I don't know where people come up with these silly theories. I don't know how Annie-body could think up--" Damon Lindelof: Oh lord. Carlton Cuse: "--some of this stuff. I might as well make up my own. I think the smoke monster is Annie. Am I right?" Kris? Kris White: I think you're Annie. Damon Lindelof: Wow, I-- Carlton Cuse: Any thoughts on the matter? Damon Lindelof: I think that I concur with Kris one-hundred percent. And I do feel that at one point we actually said "no clones." No clones on the show Lost. Carlton Cuse: We did, yes. Damon Lindelof: It was right there under "no nanobots." Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Damon Lindelof: So you have our word, no clones, no nanobots. If that limits your Annie theories, we apologize, but that's all we really have to say about it at this point. This is one of the best podcasts ever, so I'm just gonna try to get through it quickly. chuckles Damon Lindelof: Quick question, Carlton. This is from MollyMcKinney from Plymouth, Indiana, and Molly asks, "Is Jin's new curly hair a side-effect of getting blown off the freighter?" Carlton Cuse: Yes, in fact that is true. The truth is is that since Jin was located inside the electromagnetic bubble and was able to move through time, but he was so close to the edge of the bubble that there was some freakish electromagnetic side effects that did cause his hair to curl and- Damon Lindelof: Sort of like rubbing a balloon on your head. Carlton Cuse: Yeah, he was right on that fringe between heavy electromagnetism and no electromagnetism, and that only happened one other time on the show, which is when Jack lost his body hair. Damon Lindelof: Oh, right. okay. I-- That clears it up. There's just a follow-up question, obviously that Molly didn't ask, but now that you mention this. Carlton, you have curly hair, so have you ever been blown off a freighter? laughs Damon Lindelof: This is a family podcast. Carlton Cuse: laughing Not a freighter. Damon Lindelof: All right, moving on. Next question. Carlton Cuse: Damon, "Hurley performs an amazing cannonball in the season premiere of Season 4 and appears to swim easily. Yet why did Hurley lose his ability to swim in episode '316'?" ConradWensel from Grenada Hills would like to know. Damon Lindelof: Okay, good question, Conrad. I think that Hurley basically does the cannonball into the shallows of the ocean. It's a very sort of controlled environment when you do a cannonball. You're expecting to be in a swimming scenario. He took his shoes off. But I think that when he disappeared off an airplane and suddenly found himself fully clothed inside a lagoon, trying to hold onto a guitar case, I think that he was just panicking. Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Damon Lindelof: And calling out for help. Imagine closing your eyes, Conrad, and suddenly being in a lagoon, fully clothed with a guitar case, and then let's see how well you swim, my friend. chuckles Damon Lindelof: Let's see how well you swim. Carlton, this question's from Lisa in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Carlton Cuse: Awesome, we love Ann Arbor. Damon Lindelof: "Hi Damon and Carlton. I hope to see you on the next season of Dancing With the Stars. Will that be their zombie season?" Carlton Cuse: chuckles Yeah. Damon Lindelof: I don't quite know what that means. Carlton Cuse: It means that she thinks we suck at dancing. Damon Lindelof: It will certainly mean hard times have fallen on us all. "My question: What did Kate do with Aaron? My husband thinks her evident despair means she killed him." Carlton Cuse: Wow. Damon Lindelof: "But I'm pretty sure she gave him to his grandma and is simply heartbroken that the boy she has raised as her own son is now going to be brought up by someone else. Also, why the heck did Jack just go along with Kate's insistence that he not ask her what happened to Aaron? I mean, I understand that he wanted to get lucky and all, but sheesh. You know what, I have one more question." Carlton Cuse: Okay. Damon Lindelof: I wasn't aware there were any questions yet. Carlton Cuse: There were some statements, but there's some questions embedded in those statements. Damon Lindelof: "I'm a political science grad student at the University of Michigan, and I'd like to find a way to honor Dr. Chang." That's Pierre Chang aka Marvin Candle. Carlton Cuse: Uh-huh Damon Lindelof: Joe Waxman. "Do you think you can give me some ideas for a scavenger hunt that ends at his former office or something?" And that's all again from Lisa in Ann Arbor. Carlton Cuse: Wow, all right. Well, starting from the back, maybe you can just talk to the people at the University of Michigan and see if he deserves an honorary degree for his studies of electromagnetism on the show Lost. Damon Lindelof: You like to say that word. Carlton Cuse: I love the word electromagnetism. Electromagnetism. It's kind of a thing between you and the powers that be at Michigan. We love the University of Michigan. You know, this is the home of the DHARMA Initiative is University of Michigan because it's populated by very intelligent very broad minded people. Damon Lindelof: Hippies. Carlton Cuse: The other question... Oh, Kate. Well, see, yes, you will find out- Damon Lindelof: Did Kate kill Aaron? Carlton Cuse: Kate did not kill Aaron. Okay? I think we can just clear that up right now. Damon Lindelof: Okay. Carlton Cuse: But we will find out more about what happened with Kate and Aaron in the 11th episode of this season. Damon Lindelof: Ooh. Carlton Cuse: How about that? Damon Lindelof: That's very specific. Carlton Cuse: That's a very specific answer. Damon Lindelof: What's the title of that episode, Carlton? Carlton Cuse: Um... Damon Lindelof: I can refresh your memory. Carlton Cuse: Go ahead. Damon Lindelof: "What Happened, Happened" Carlton Cuse: Yeah, that's right. Damon Lindelof: "What Happened, Happened" Carlton Cuse: You're gonna like this one here. Damon Lindelof: Shoot. Carlton Cuse: "Hey guys, it's your faithful fan Nevitz here." I don't know if Nevitz is a first name or a last name, but Nevitz is from Queensland, Australia. Damon Lindelof: Oh, (???) Carlton Cuse: "Okay, so I'm sure you've probably heard by now the ever popular Sawyer four-toed statue theory." Have you heard of this? Damon Lindelof: I think that I know where you're going with this, but I'm curious to see if I'm right. Carlton Cuse: "Well, if you haven't, it basically states that because the scene where Sawyer gets something caught in his foot in 'The Lie' was so damn random that it must mean that Sawyer ends up having his toe amputated because of infection, heroically saves the island's original inhabitants, and they, as grateful people as they are, create a giant statue of his foot in all its four-toed glory as a large 'toe'-ken of their appreciation." chuckles Damon Lindelof: Wow, guys-- Carlton Cuse: Loving the puns today. Damon Lindelof: --if you want Carlton to read your question, just put horrible puns embedded in it. Carlton Cuse: "So please tell me this isn't true. I think I would rather die of laughter if it were. Oh, and I meant to ask: If Damon and Carlton were to marry, which one of you would change your last name? The fan base needs to know whether to call you Mr. and Mr. Cuse or Lindelof." Damon Lindelof: Wow. I would answer the first part of the question by saying rest assured, Sawyer will not be having his toe amputated anytime soon, so... Carlton Cuse: Okay. Damon Lindelof: ...Just as a result of that, I think you can draw your own conclusions as to whether or not there is a statue of him. And as for the second part, were Carlton and I to be married, I think that we would probably hyphenate. Carlton Cuse: That's true. That would be fair. Damon Lindelof: There are so many other things that I would be worried about-- Carlton Cuse: laughs Damon Lindelof: --in that series of circumstances, I feel like we would just resolve and agree to hyphenate. Carlton Cuse: Very good. Damon Lindelof: Need to go call my wife. This question is from Ellie in Boston, Mass. The final question, Carlton. Carlton Cuse: Yes. Damon Lindelof: "Was Jack back in the real world long enough to enjoy the Red Sox 2007 World Series win? If so, thank you for giving poor tortured badly bearded Jack a small bit of happiness. If not, which one of you is the sadistic Yankees fan? Thanks, Ellie, Boston, Mass." Carlton Cuse: Wow, that's a great question. Well, the truth of the matter is I am a huge Red Sox fan, and Damon is a huge Yankees fan, so there's a lot of contentious conversations about baseball, particularly as we get deeper into the season. And this year, just because the Yankees overspent, you know, kind of completely out of proportion to every other team in baseball in their sort of panic desire to try to win, you know, that won't have a huge impact on how I feel about the baseball season. Damon Lindelof: Wow, sounds like it has had a huge impact on how you feel, if you kind of need to safeguard yourself now for the inevitable destruction of your precious Red Sox. I would say that when I first saw Jack completely strung out on drugs and crying himself to sleep every night was probably because he just was like, "why am I a Red Sox fan? Why can't I like a superior team?" Carlton Cuse: But I think the truth though is that the Red Sox having won two World Series the last three years and the Yankees having won zero World Series in that time might have something to do with, you know, his mood. Damon Lindelof: But I'd say Jack is probably in his mid to late 30's, so how many World S- Let's just aggregate this. How many World Series did the Red Sox win between say the date of his birth and, you know, the Oceanic crash? How many? Carlton Cuse: I think this is moving- This is going back to Nevitz. This is why we're not gonna have to worry about a hyphenated name scenario. I don't think the chances-- Damon Lindelof: I'll just answer- Carlton Cuse: --that we're gonna get married anytime soon. Damon Lindelof: I'll just answer the question, since you clearly don't want to, but the answer is zero, Carlton. The answer is zero. Carlton Cuse: Although there are those two in '04 and '07, which is a lot more than you can say about the Yankees. Damon Lindelof: I guess it's possible that now that they're traveling back through time, someone could give Bill Buckner grounding lessons, so that they could have at least won it- Carlton Cuse: Okay, okay, okay, okay. Damon Lindelof: All right, well-- Carlton Cuse: There we go. Damon Lindelof: I'm glad we had this chat. Anyway-- Carlton Cuse: I'm about to cut Damon's toe off, and that's gonna be the origin of the four-toed statue. Damon Lindelof: I'm glad we had this talk, Carlton. Carlton Cuse: Me too. And you're not likely to hear another Lost podcast for a long time. Damon Lindelof: Why are you trying to strangle me? Carlton Cuse: Au revoir. Damon Lindelof: Bye. Kris White: That's it for this edition of the podcast. You can catch us again in a few weeks with executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse as they tease upcoming episodes. Until then, "LaFleur" airs Wednesday, March 4 at 9:00 pm, only on ABC. theme Category:Transcripts